It is difficult or impossible for those of us blessed with all five senses and full mobility and control of our limbs and muscles to even imagine the isolation and helplessness experienced by the severely handicapped.
Someone with sensory and/or mobility impairments may be completely unable to control the devices (e.g., telephones and radio and television receivers) we all rely upon to interact with the rest of the world. A severely handicapped person is typically confined to a bed or a wheelchair, and his entire "world" or environment may be the room or set of rooms he is confined to by reason of his lack of mobility. Electrical communications links such as the telephone, the television, the radio, the computer and "talking book" records/audio tapes may be the principal or only contact a severely handicapped person has with people and places outside of his immediate environment (fortunately, mass media is now capable of bringing a wealth of information into the home through electrical communications). Yet, an unassisted quadriplegic or other seriously handicapped person may be physically incapable of operating the controls to dial a telephone, turn a radio receiver on and off and select a station (and adjust the volume) operate a television receiver, or turn a room lamp off at night before going to sleep at night.
A person unable to perform such rudimentary control functions without assistance must rely upon the help of others to do almost everything. Turning on the television set, adjusting its volume, dialing the telephone, and switching radio stations each become a group effort requiring the cooperation of a friend, family member or personal care attendant (PCA). Sometimes a person forced to rely on another person's help for nearly all aspects of his interaction with his environment feels demoralized, useless, and purposeless--and at the very least feels very frustrated because he cannot do anything for himself.
Although a severely disabled person usually does have the mental capabilities, the skills and the determination to manage his own affairs and to function independently, complete physical dependence on someone else can easily lead to total mental dependence at worst and great frustration at best. Needless to say, a severely disabled person in such circumstances almost never can be an employable, productive member of society regardless of his skills, talents and experience (which may be considerable indeed). This frustration of the work ethic often leads to extremely low self esteem and intellectual stagnation.
Fortunately, the modern electronics age has provided severely handicapped persons with systems that allow them to interact with and control their environment. These so-called "environmental control" units or systems typically provide a user control with a small number of positions (e.g., a "sip-and-puff" switch, a joystick, a voice actuated switch, or the like) capable of being operated by a severely handicapped person. By operating the user control in accordance with feedback (e.g., audible tones and/or visual indicators) he may remotely select between and control many different electrical and electronic devices in his immediate environment.
The following is a (by no means exhaustive) listing of environmental control devices and systems having some or all of the capabilities discussed above:
NuLife Environmental Control System (a mid 1970s discrete TTL based system providing some control of a telephone and on/off of various appliances discussed in greater detail below);
"Control 1", a system sold by Prentke Romich Company, Wooster Ohio and described in published brochures entitled "Control 1", "Scanning X-10 Powerhouse Environmental Control Unit", "Accessories for Control 1" and "Control Interfaces" ;
The "Mecca" and "Deuce" systems developed by Du-It Control Systems Group of Shreve, Ohio and described in "Controls For the Severely Disabled";
"Model 2814" Environmental Control System sold by Rehab Technology Inc. of Highland, Illinois and described in the brochure "Environmental Control From RTI";
Various environmental controls described at pages 11-17 of the 1985/1986 Catalog published by "Technical Aids and Systems for the Handicapped, Inc." (TASH) of Markham, Ontario;
"Mastervoice" brochure distributed by J-B Communications of Minneapolis, Minn.;
EZRA single switch environmental control system described in the brochure "EZRA Easy Remote Access" published by KY Enterprises of Long Beach, California;
DIRECTEL model telephone interface manufactured by Bell Canada and described at page 11 of the AT&T Publication "ATT National Special Needs Center Product Catalog";
"Dialess I The Ultimate Family Phone", TTC, Carson, California (1985);
OMNI PILOT environmental control unit manufactured by Everest & Jennings, Concord, Ontario, which includes a five switch user interface with sequential scanning, an ultrasonic environmental control channel, a tape recorder hook up channel, and an infrared environmental control channel to allow user to operate a television converter;
Home Brain environmental control unit made by Hypertek of Whitehorse, New Jersey, a microprocessor based system (programmed by downloading from an IBM personal computer) which includes appliance and lighting control and optional voice output and telephone interface;
Environmental Control System manufactured by Fortress Scientific, Buffalo, New York, including a four-channel ultrasonic transmitter built into a joystick wheel chair control and providing the ability to dial preset telephone numbers and control a radio dial;
PMV Independence made by PMV Systems of Hank, The Netherlands, providing visual indicator lamps and associated audible indication to indicate state scanning; and
CEPCO Home Remote Control System made by Cepco of Canoga Park, California, providing a multiswitch remote control module for applying and removing control voltages from appliances.
The following prior issued U.S. patents may possibly be generally relevant to environmental control systems of the type discussed above:
Katz U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,927 (1986); PA0 Hofmann U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,847 (1984); PA0 Drew et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,015 (1980); and PA0 Stanton U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,744 ( 1982).
One example of a prior art environmental control system that has provided some severely handicapped users with considerable control over their environment is the "NuLife" system manufactured in very limited quantities in the mid 1970s by Scientific Systems International located in Huntsville, Alabama. This NuLife system included a wall-mounted control module and a further switching module connected to the control module via cables. A three-position hand-actuated joystick (center=off, left="ON" position one or "red-stick", right="ON" position two or "yellow-stick") or a three-position "sip and puff" respiratory-actuated switch (normally off, sip="ON" position one, puff="ON" position two) provides the control input from the user to the control module. The control module includes a discrete TTL logic type state machine that is capable of scanning a sequence of input states ( "control channels") in response to control switch actuation. The input state scanning sequence is indicated by an audible tone (that is, each channel could be preset with a tone of a different pitch) and also by an array of indicator lights. No matter how the tones are setup, the user has to rely on memory of previous tones to know "where" he is in the sequence of options being presented to him. A control was provided to change the scanning rate at which the system sequences through the states. Further switch actuation when the control module occupies a certain input state causes the switching module to exercise on/off (and in some cases, more complex) control over an external device assigned (by hard wiring) to that input state.
For example, suppose the user wishes to turn on the television set and increase the television volume level. Assume that television set on/off control has been assigned to input state no. 2, and television volume selection has been assigned to input state no. 5. A typical user control input sequence using a joystick might be as follows:
(a) user moves joystick to the left ("red-stick") momentarily; PA1 (b) the control module begins "scanning" through input states in sequence in response to the joystick input, providing a visual (light array) state indication for sighted users and alternating pitched tones to indicate the sequence of input states to blind users; PA1 (c) when the control module "reaches" input state no. 2 (corresponding to television set on/off control channel and indicated to the user by an illuminated indicator lamp and by the fact that two tones have been generated since scanning began) the user moves joystick to the left again ( "red-stick") to stop the scanning process; PA1 (d) the user then moves the joystick to the right ( "yellow-stick") momentarily to "toggle" the control output state of input state no. 2 (that is, if the switching module formerly did not supply power to the television, it will now operate a relay to apply power to the television); PA1 (e) the user repeats step (a) and the control module repeats step (b) by resuming scanning in sequence at input state no. 3; PA1 (f) when the user sees/hears that the control module has "reached" input state no. 5 (corresponding to television receiver volume control), he moves the joystick to the left ( "red-stick") to stop the scanning process; PA1 (g) the user moves the joystick to the right ( "yellow-stick") to change the control output state for input state no. 5 (e.g., stepper relay may be operated to switch a different resistance in series with a television receiver audio amplifier output each time the joystick is operated); PA1 (h) the user repeats step no. (a) to cause the control module to resume scanning; and PA1 (i) the control module resumes scanning at input state no. 6, cycles to the last state (e.g., state no. 9), and waits at a null state (e.g., state no. 0) for further joystick input.
The NuLife system also allows the user to control a telephone line assigned to one of the input states. Once the state corresponding to the telephone line is selected by the "red-stick" sequence described above, the user moves the joystick to the right ( "yellow-stick") to take the telephone line "off hook". A speaker phone allows the user to hear the dial tone. A similar scanning sequence is then used to permit the user to dial a telephone number. Specifically, a "yellow-stick" causes the system to begin counting from 1, with alternating pitched tones corresponding to different counts. The user selects a desired telephone number digit 0-9 by waiting for the system to count up to the desired digit and then operating "yellow-stick" again. The control module automatically transmits the selected digit in repertory pulse form (only) over the telephone line. This digit selection process is repeated by the user a number of times (e.g., eleven times for a long distance call) to dial a complete telephone number. While this procedure does permit the user to dial telephone numbers himself (as opposed to placing every call through the operator), it takes a long time to dial a single telephone number using this procedure (during which the telephone line is "off hook" so that all incoming callers hear a "busy" signal) and errors are easily introduced into the dialing process. New telephone services such as call waiting, hold, 3-way calling to call forwarding cannot be accessed with NuLife.
Many of the operational characteristics of the NuLife system have proven to be highly successful and useful. For example, the NuLife scanning input state/feedback feature (which permits the user to access a large number of different control functions by operating a three-position switch) is highly valid for any environmental control system for the severely handicapped. However, many improvements are possible and desirable.
The environmental control system user interface is the most important area for improving existing environmental control systems. The NuLife user interface, for example, is extremely cumbersome because control functions are arranged in the scanning sequence based on hard-wired relay configurations (e.g., the only stepper relay capable of controlling amplifier volume might be assigned to input state 5). This requires the user to select control functions from several different input states in order to obtain the same control results that non-handicapped users are able to achieve through a single manual operation (e.g., turning the television set ON and setting desired volume in the same knob-twisting motion). In addition, control functions were generally not grouped together logically (e.g., it was possible to change the television volume level when the television was OFF)--adding to user confusion and increasing the probability that the user would become "lost" in the control functions provided. Control operations using prior user interfaces take a great deal of time to perform and require the user to memorize essentially arbitrary assignments of control functions to input states. It would be highly desirable to provide a more flexible user interface which minimizes the number of control switch movements and the time required to obtain specific control objectives and is as user friendly and easy to learn as possible.
Perhaps one of the most serious shortcomings of prior environmental control systems is their lack of flexibility and the resulting difficulty in changing or customizing the systems to accommodate the needs of different users. Different users may have different needs (for example, some users may need multiple telephone lines, blind users may not wish to listen to television but prefer listening to talking books instead, etc.). The NuLife system described above was not a so-called "state machine" (as that term is defined in the art) in that it had no memory and could not be programmed. Rather, the system was implemented using discrete logic gates and state components and therefore provided a fixed set of functions which could be altered only by physically rewiring the combinatorial and sequential circuits (components) and associated external connections. Because of these limitations, additional functionality cannot practically be added to the system. Therefore, the only way to provide additional functions to the user is to provide additional, non-integrated control mechanisms (thereby adding to user confusion and inconvenience, increasing overall cost, cluttering the user area with additional devices and associated control and power cords, exacerbating reliability problems, and making it difficult to maintain all equipment in working order). It would be highly desirable to provide an integrated environmental control system architecture which is expandable, provides sufficient generality and flexibility to permit a wide variety of devices to be readily interfaced to it under a common flexible unified user interface/control scheme, can be customized (preferably by the user himself in some cases via the same user interface/control scheme) to accommodate the needs of different users and the changing needs of a single user, and yet is compact, portable and battery operable (so that is can be mounted on a wheelchair).
Further disadvantages of prior "complete" environmental control systems such as the NuLife system and other systems presently offered for sale relate to cost. A high percentage of disabled people cannot afford equipment to enhance their lives and many times are bitterly disappointed when provided equipment fails to live up to expectations. Because currently available systems have been designed to provide a certain fixed repertoire of functions, the basic system cost is relatively high. A few manufacturers currently provide "full featured" environmental control systems (offering multiple channels of AC power control, a telephone interface capable of prestoring telephone numbers, electric bed control, television control, intercom, and other control functions)--but the system cost is excessive ($3000 to $4000 for a fully configured system) is simply out of reach for all but a few severely handicapped people. Severely handicapped people without an environmental control system are often not employable--and therefore cannot afford to purchase the equipment they need to make them employable- It would be highly desirable to provide an affordable environmental control system which has a modular, expandable architecture so that the basic system cost can be minimized and the user can purchase additional control features (without risking functionality already provided) if and when additional funds become available. It would also be highly desirable to share as many facilities as possible between different control functions (e.g., to share a microphone between the telephone, a note-taking tape recorder, and a two-way radio) to minimize overall system cost and reduce the number of input/output cables that must be connected to the system.
Another serious shortcoming in existing environmental control systems is the lack of interaction between different control channels. For example, if the telephone rings while the user is watching television or listening to the radio, the user may have to manually mute the sound filling his room through a first time-consuming control sequence before he can answer the telephone (typically a speakerphone type system) through another time-consuming control sequence (it is not generally possible for a severely handicapped person to run to a quieter room to answer the telephone). It would be highly desirable to provide automatic control channel interaction in a flexible manner.
Another deficiency in existing environmental control systems is their inability to effectively interface with modern Touch-Tone telephone lines having advanced features such as call waiting or with modern computerized automatic call processing systems (which typically require one to key additional tones corresponding to account number, for example). The telephone is a powerful and vital link to the outside world, and a severely handicapped person should be capable of using the power of the telephone to the fullest extent possible. Unfortunately, most existing environmental control system telephone interfaces are extremely limited (some require the user to place every call through an operator) and do not take advantage of the tremendous flexibility provided by modern electronic Telephone Company switching networks--nor do they provide local speed calling or off hook programming features that could save the user a great deal of time and anxiety. Even if access was provided to the speed dialing feature offered by the telephone company, there would be no way for the severely handicapped person (who often cannot write and may be unable to read due to sight impairments) to keep track of what numbers have been programmed for the various speed calling digits.
Our invention provides an environmental control system for the severely handicapped which overcomes many of the disadvantages of prior systems. Some of the advantageous features of the presently preferred exemplary embodiment of our invention are listed below:
Totally integrated and programmable system provides flexibility, expandability and versatility;
An audible nested control option selection structure organizes logically related tasks and subtasks together so the user can access the tasks and subtasks in a natural fashion, providing an easy to learn user interface that is user friendly, minimizes frustration in accomplishing desired tasks, and also minimizes the time required to perform even complex control sequences;
Enhanced user interface features, including time encoding of control switch functions and synthesized speech prompting, further increases ease of operation and functionality;
Interaction between different control channels allows the user to perform different tasks simultaneously. All items with a high potential "nuisance factor" (NF) (such as volume controls) are programmed to reduce their nuisance factor whenever a mute subroutine is called. For example, all potentially interfering audio being generated by the system is muted automatically whenever the telephone is placed off-hook. Once on the phone, the user may play his favorite music as loud as he wishes (the system assumes he knows what he is doing).
System modularity allows the user to purchase a low-cost starter system that meets immediate needs and permits later (inexpensive) expansion without risk at will:
The system form factor is small enough to be mounted on a wheel chair or carried as an attache case;
The system may be battery operated; is portable and transportable;
Open system architecture will encourage users and technologists to develop their own specific hardware customized for specific control needs--and control such hardware through the common integrated user interface;
Enhanced telephone line manipulation, including off-line assembly of telephone numbers for dialing, a catalog of user preprogrammed telephone numbers indexed for easy access by the user through the unified audible sub-menu structure;
Wireless control links minimize wire connections and also facilitate control over off-the-shelf consumer electronics devices with built-in wireless remote control functionality; and
Sharing of common hardware for multiple functions minimizes system cost, increases reliability and makes the system easier to use.